Holiday Recipes from the NWQ Staff

We interview, we write, we take photos, we sell adds, we do graphic layout and we love to eat. Some of us even love to cook.

Most of them aren’t fancy, but the following recipes are tried and true favorites from staff members at Northwest Quarterly Magazine. We share them with you this holiday season in honor of the family traditions that add so much to the quality of our lives. We hope you enjoy these staff favorites and we also hope that you’ll share some of your favorite family recipes with us in the future. Meanwhile, happy cooking and happy eating!

In a skillet, brown chicken and celery in butter. In a large bowl, combine soup and broth until smooth. Add the mushrooms, onion, rice, poultry seasoning and chicken mixture. Pour into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes. Stir; sprinkle with cashews. Return to the oven for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender. Garnish with parsley. Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Peel and halve all vegetables; brush with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove eggplant from skin with a spoon. Transfer all veggies to boiling broth, add salt and boil, partially covered, for another 50 minutes. Puree/blend everything and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Add heavy cream. Cook on low for an additional 10 minutes. Turn heat off and allow to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste, serve and garnish with crumbled goat cheese.

Chop tomatoes, scallions and cilantro. Chop ends off ears of corn; remove some shuck but leave at least three layers. Microwave 2 minutes; allow to cool. Cut avocados in half and remove pit. While still in skin, gently slice the avocado downward and crosswise. With a spoon, scoop avocados into a medium bowl. Mash avocado so that it’s fairly smooth but still chunky. Add tomatoes, scallions, cilantro and salsa; mix until blended. Cut lime in half, squeeze into dip and stir. Cut corn from cobs and stir into mixture. Refrigerate at least one hour. Serve with tortilla chips or flatbread.

These recipes come from my YiaYia, who, like all Greek grandmothers, can’t make a bad meal. It seems no family holiday is complete without baklava, a delicious dessert, or spanakopita, a bite-size appetizer and side dish.

Saute onions in butter until soft. Add spinach and cook until tender. Set mixture aside to cool. Mix feta with cottage cheese and add to the cooled spinach mixture. Beat eggs well and add to mixture. Butter about six slices of filo dough, and spread on bottom of a 13×9-inch pan. Add spinach mixture, and top with more buttered filo dough. Heat oven to 350 F and bake for about 45 minutes. *Tasty tip: In the small Greek village where my YiaYia’s mother was raised, spanakopita is served with a drizzle of honey.

Stuffed Beef Tenderloin – from Bill Hughes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter and cook shallots or onion until tender. Add mushrooms and cook over low heat until liquid is reduced by half. Let cool.

Butterfly the tenderloin by cutting the beef length-wise down the center to within a half-inch of the other side. Open the beef and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub with dry red wine. Spoon the mushroom filling down the center. Bring the two sides of the tenderloin up and around the filling until they meet. Tie the beef together at 2-inch intervals with kitchen twine.
Place stuffed beef in roasting pan. Roast for 40 minutes for medium rare.

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing about 1½-inch thick. Use the drippings and additional wine to make a sauce to pour over the top before serving.

Swedish Rice Pudding – from Brad Hughes

With our Swedish heritage, it’s no wonder this is a family favorite at the holidays.

Coarsely grind walnuts and pecans and mix well with sugar and cinnamon. Melt butter and brush onto a 12x9x2.5 pan. Place 8 sheets of filo in the bottom of the baking pan, brushing each with melted butter. It’s easier to cut the filo to fit the pan. Sprinkle 1 C. of the nut mixture on top of the filo. Place three more sheets of filo on top, brushing each sheet with butter. Alternate in this manner until all ingredients have been used, saving 8 sheets of filo for top layer.

Brush top with butter.Cut through the top with diagonal lines, to form diamond shapes. Heat oven to 325 F and bake for one hour or more, until dough is brown and crisp. While still hot, cover with cooled syrup (recipe below) and let stand overnight before serving.

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